SFFACCEL is an initiative of 11 higher education institutions (HEIs), three R&I centres, one nationwide entrepreneurial association, and two European regional valleys which are all committed to developing a holistic, but inclusive, entrepreneurial transformation model. In this model, responsible innovation actors and entrepreneurs utilise disruptive technologies across industry verticals to develop innovations that serve people and planet.

SFFACCEL builds on the positive effects and results achieved in the EIT HEI Initiative and other EU projects (EUACCEL, TANDEM+ and EUFORIA, all contributing to Start for Future framework, which connects over 30 HEIs), and further develops their entrepreneurial concepts, addressing the Deep Tech Talent Initiative and calls to action defined by the New European Innovation Agenda. It does so by introducing new formats of research commercialisation, combining the technology-driven and society-driven approach into open entrepreneurship and innovation formats, and finally activating and connecting regional valleys across Europe.

SFFACCEL is a hyper-connector whose mission is to create an interconnected European innovation ecosystem through implementation of the following objectives:

• Develop a growing, open, gender-inclusive university and incubator framework utilising the basis of the Start for Future model, which – in a systematic way – fosters deep tech innovation, start-up/spin-off creation, and co-creation within and between European valleys driven by HEI;
• Develop new regional innovation valleys in Europe on the basis of Smart Specialisation Strategies, and connect them (both on-site and digitally) with other ecosystems in Europe through the SFFACCEL model of co-creation;
• Scale and sustain SFFACCEL and SFF by creating value pathways for other Knowledge Triangle actors to partake in this co-creation model and become members of the SFF European Cooperative Society;
• Support the realisation of the New European Innovation Agenda and Deep Tech Talent Initiative by offering the tools and mentorship to other HEIs, innovation actors, and ecosystems to become more entrepreneurial, as well as a working model through which they can collaborate and co-create across Europe towards economic growth and impact creation.

The aim of implementing SFFACCEL’s vision and objectives is to create a sustainable model that endorses responsible entrepreneurs, innovators, start-ups, and spin-offs as the drivers of a future where technology and innovation serve people, society, and the planet using the UN SDGs and ESG as a framework for sustainable growth. By 2024, SFFACCEL will transform into an SFF European Cooperative Society, and by 2030 – together with other partners – it will involve 100 HEIs, train over 20 000 talents, support 1 000 start-ups, create 300 new start-ups/spin-offs and 50 regional valleys, and become the biggest entrepreneurial initiative in Europe driven by HEIs.

Project coordinator

 Pavlina Vujovic, Head of Internationalization for Entrepreneurship, HM Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences (contact)

Project website

startforfuture.eu